Nelsonhouck



N. 'HOUOK. RAILROAD GATE.

"No. 66,344. Patented July 2, 1867.

nonnls PEIKRS c0. Pumuumo" WASHINGTON, a. a

goiter giitltfi gaunt @ffinr.

NELSON'HOUGK, or CANTON, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 66,344, dated July 2, 1867.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-GATE.

We Stlgehule refcmh in in those ii'tilttt fitment mm mating part at the same,

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY" CONCERN:

Be it known that I, NELSON HoUcK, of Canton, in the county'of Stark, and State ofOhio, have invented new and useful improvements in'Sclf-Operating Railroad-Gates; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, of which drawings Figure 1 iso sectional view of my improved railroad-gate.

Figure 2 is a plan of same with the gate detached.

Figure'3 is a'view of gates detached from the other machinery.

Figures 4 and 5 are views ofthat part of themach-inery that is connected to the rails.

The mature of my invention consists in the peculiar arrangement of several rock-levers, rods, turningplates, springs, and other machinery, in connection with compound rails and sliding gates, 'so arranged as that the weight of'the train shall cause the'gatesto open, and to remain open until the train has passed, when, by action of certain springs, the gates close themselves, and will remain closed until again opened by a train.

V To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

li-he connecting-rods A A are placed on the ties which support the track, and have-rollers 0 under them, to allow of their easy motion. They also pass through the irons P,, which keep them in position, The turningplates 13 C- D E F are arranged on the axles tn 9 w :c, the lower ends of these axles resting in: steps provided for the purpose, which steps" are attached to planks which are fastened to the ties, and the upper end of the axles being held by the irons G H I J K, which are attached to the planks before mentioned, all of which is fnll'y shown in fig. 1. The rods S T S, T, are attached to'the under side of the turningplates B and F by bolts,

EH'BlIOWD, and their other ends are attached to the pieces U V U, V on the connecting-rods A A... The rods t, t, are attached to the turning-plates C and E and the connecting-rods A A in a similar manner. The rods 4 and b are attached to the pieces 0 and d, on the connecting-rods A A, and to the under side of the turning-plate 'D, by the bolts e andf. The bars g and h are. attached to the upper side of the turning-plate D by the bolts i and l, and at their other ends are the bolts k and m, which bolts pass through two of the combined levers p p q q, and up through the'slots o and n in the arms of the ironI, and have nuts on them, so as to support thecombined levers p p q, q. The ends of this set of combined levers are attached to the gates 13, B, by the bolts r and s, which bolts are attached to the gates as shown in fig. 3, and pass through the ends r and s of the series of combined levers. Therods O and P are bent attheir ends, and are put into the holes h, and z, in the turning-plate B, and the holes is, and z, in the rock-levers L and M. These rock-levers arehungon the axles b, and a, in the iron W, which is attached to thebottom of the compound rail L M,, as shown in figs- 4 and 5'. The iron VT, with rock-levers L and M, is not shown in fig. 1, to avoid confusion. This compound rail is made in two parts, L, and M,, which are of the cross-section shown in fig- 4, and are held together by the bolt 11%,. The hole in the part L,, through which passes the bolt N,, is slotted as shown, so as to allow a vertical motion of the part L.

of the rail. The rods A shown in fig. 1, are arranged with their upper ends against the part L, of the rails, and pass through a plank and box attached to the ties, The upper ends of the springs a, pass through holes in the rods A,, and rest on boxes, through which these rods pass, thus serving to keep the part L, of the rails elevated, excepting when, pressed down by the wei ght of the train. The rods a, and cl, are bent at their lower ends, and ire inserted in holes in the rock-levers L and M, while their upper ends press against the part L, of the compound rail L, and M as shown in figs. 4 and 5. The arrangement of the rods Q and R, and rock-lever L and M,, as well aslthat of the rodeo, and P, and the rock-levers L and M the rods Q, and R,, and rocklevers L and Maths rode Q, and R, and rock-levers L and M and the rods 0,, and P and rock-levers L, and M taken in connection with the turning-plates B C D E F, respectively, are similar to that of the rods 0 and P, and rock-levers L and M, with the turning-plate B, and need not be separately described. The gates B, B; are hung with the irons d, d, on the rods e, 2,, and are free to slide through the slots provided in the gate-posts nearest the track, and have bumpers on their rear ends, to take the blow when the gates are thrown violently open; all of which is shown in fig. 3.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: A train of cars coming on to the part L, of the compound rail, forces it down. This forces down the'rods c and d which operate the rock lev'ers L and M, and these/in turn act on the rods 0 and P, and cause the turning-plate B to turn. This causes a movnientof the connectingrods A A by means of the rods S and T, and the rodsd and b, a'ttaelie'dto the tnrning-platcsD, cause said plates to turn. The rotation of the turning-plate D causes the bars g and h to act on; the bolts I: and m, and this action causes a. movement of the combined levers 172 q q in such a manner as that the distance m I: shall be increased, which movement of these combined levers will cause the ends r and s to moire away from the track, andas the bolts 1' and s are attached to' the gates 13 13 causes said gates to slide open. The direction ofmovements of the several partsof my apparatus, as caused by a. train, is indicated by arrows. The action of a train coming on to the apparatus, at' the end where the turning-plate F is" ptaced, is precisely similar to tha'tjust described. The turning-plates C and E, beingconnectezl to the eonnecting-rods'A A, 'are caused to rotate by the morement'just described, and when a trainlcav'es the rails over the rock 'levers L M 'ii; comes over the rock-levers L M and the gates are prevented from closing. III-the same manner, the train comes over the rock-levers L M after leaving the rock-levers L M and then over the rock-levers I! M L M and the gates cannot close until the last car has passed the'rock-levers I; M The spring 21,, on axle'v of'thc turning-plate D, causes the plate D to rotate back into its original position, as shown, as the passing of the train leaves the part L of the rail to rise, and in this way the gates are closed. I r

I do not. claim as my invention sliding-gates B B or,-in fact, anypart of thenp'paratus shown in fig. 3; nor do I claim the 'form of raiI shown in fig. 4, as any form of compound rail, where the'upperpart'can have a vertical motion, can be used in connection with my apparatus, and asthe'sliding-gates and asimilar cross-section of rail have bee'n heretofore used; but what I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The peculiar arrangement and combination of the part 'L of' the rail Ii M the rods c d rock-levers L M, rods 0 P, and turning-plate, B, the several parts being. arranged asand for the purpose set'forth.

2. The peculiar arrangement and combination of the turning-plates B C D E F, rods S 'T t a b t, S 13, connecting-rods A A, bars 9 It, and combined leverspp q q, the several .par'ts being arranged as and for the purpose set forth 3. The spring v when used in connection with the axle ztof the turning-plate D, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

4. The rods A with springs a when used in connection with the'pnirt'L of the compound rail L M m stantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

5. The yertieally slotted holes, either in the part L 'or th e part M of the compound rail l"; M when such slots are used for the purpose of allowing a vertical motion to the part L substantially in the manner and forthe purpose specified.-

As evidence that I claim the foregoing, I havehercunto set my hand-in presence of two witnesses.

- NELSON'HOUGK. I Witnesses: v

E. Ni Bnrmour,

Jon Anson. 

